Chapter 2

Lara's tears spilled down her cheeks without warning, the large, pearl-like beads dripping from her jaw and onto the backs of her hands. Her slender shoulders trembled.

"Mrs. Griffin, I promise this isn't what you think it is…" she choked out in between sobs. "Tris told me he had a mission he needed my help with and told me to wait for him at the hotel… I didn't know things would turn out this way…"

"A mission?" I raised a brow. "What mission would require you to put on a white dress, wear his woven bracelet, and wait for him in a hotel room?"

Lara was rendered speechless by my confrontation, but her sobs grew louder until she caught the attention of the orphanage caretaker.

The caretaker was a lady in her 40s. She recognized me and immediately came to straighten things out. "Mrs. Griffin, Lara's still young and naive. Has there been a misunderstanding?"

I ignored the caretaker and fixed my gaze on Lara. "How long has it been since you and Tristan started this affair?"

Lara bit her lip, shaking her head tearfully. "We didn't… Mrs. Griffin, please believe me—"

"No way." I put my phone away and turned to leave. I saw no point in wasting my breath on her. I'd only just gotten into the car when Tristan called me.

"Gen, did you go to the orphanage?" He didn't sound pleased. "Lara just called me and told me you misunderstood her."

"Misunderstood her?" A wry chuckle escaped me. "And what was it that I misunderstood? That she was wearing your red woven bracelet, or that she met you at the hotel?"

Tristan was silent for a few seconds on the other line, then pointed out tiredly, "Gen, grow up, will you? I sponsored Lara, and she had a tough time growing up. What's wrong with my looking out for her? You don't have to be so paranoid."

"Paranoid?" I clenched the steering wheel a little tighter. "You weren't even on duty last night, were you, Tristan?"

"Were you tracking me, Genevieve?" Tristan demanded grimly.

"I'm not that bored."

After hanging up, I called Rowena. "Look into Tristan's shift patterns for the last six months and all the records of him checking into a hotel for his affairs. The more detailed, the better."

Rowena clicked her tongue on the other end of the phone. "Guess you're ready for an ultimatum, huh? Alright, give me a minute."

Half an hour later, I got an email from Rowena. It came attached with Tristan's shift patterns, which were circled in various spots in red. All the circled areas were the shifts he claimed to have been on, despite not even being on the team during those days.

When I opened the file containing his hotel check-in records, my heart nearly stopped beating.

It started about three months ago. He checked into hotels once a week at different locations, all of them near the orphanage. The latest record was his stay at the Wisteria, which ended last night. All payments were made with his credit card.

I felt my stomach churn as I stared at those records.

Tristan and I had been married for five years. I knew he was busy and that his job was dangerous, so I never bothered him with household affairs, whether big or small. When he said he wanted to sponsor Lara, I agreed and even bought books and clothes for her.

As it turned out, the man I'd devoted myself to had played me for a fool.

My phone rang again, this time with a call from Tristan's colleague, Jake Schafer.

"Hey, Genevieve. Did you get into a fight with Tristan?" Jake sounded conflicted. "He threw a huge fit in front of us earlier and swept all his folders onto the floor. He said something about you being unreasonable…"

My grip tightened around my phone as Jake continued, "Listen, Genevieve. Tristan's under a lot of pressure, and it'd be nice if you're a little more patient with him.

"Lara has it rough, and Tristan's only being kind to her for charity. I'm sure he doesn't mean anything—"

"What, he's so charitable that he's taking her to hotels to tend to her needs?" I cut Jake off, my tone edged with frost. "If you've nothing else to add, Jake, I'm hanging up."

After ending the call, I started the car and sped toward the police precinct. It was time to settle some scores face-to-face.